No Devotion rise from ashes of Lostprophets

Geoff Rickly fronts new band

Former members of Lostprophets have released the first single by their new project, No Devotion.

As previously suggested, guitarists Mike Lewis and Lee Gaze, keyboard player Jamie Oliver, drummer Luke Johnson and bass player Stuart Richardson have snapped up Thursday singer Geoff Rickly to front their new band.

You can hear their first single below. Stay is available now via iTunes. Rickly's label, Collect Records, will also make a 12” vinyl version available on Monday, July 13.

Following singer Ian Watkins' conviction for a string of horrific child sex offences – for which he was last year jailed for 35 years – the remaining members of Lostprophets were left in limbo. With the band's name tarnished, bringing in a new singer was not an option.

The Welsh musicians opted to start again. Richardson says: "We didn't know if we would ever make music again, if people would look us in the face. Everything felt like it was over.

"We didn't know what else to do. We just wrote music. I didn't know if anyone would ever want to hear it, I didn't know if anyone ever would hear it. I just needed to occupy my brain. We just needed this.”

They approached Rickly with some instrumental tracks they had written – and he was suitably impressed, despite not ever being a Lostprophets fan.

Rickly says: "To be honest, I never really listened to Lostprophets. But with this music, we speak a common language. You don't really grow out of punk, you grow with it. To my mind, post-punk was about taking a more sophisticated approach to that sound, and I think we all have a shared respect for that era of modern music.

“I had always liked these guys in passing. They're funny and self-aware. I didn't think it was fair, what was happening to them. And, well, the music was too good to pass up.”